Top 5 Worst Ways to Make Money Online

Trust me, I’ve done it too. I have scoured Pinterest for the latest and greatest in earning money online. I have dug through those massive list posts with 101 ways to make $101 extra income each month. If that’s you right now, I totally get it.

Those posts can be so inspiring. They provide a nice illusion of easy money and endless possibilities for the work from homer or side hustler. Then, upon further digging, link clicking, subscribing, and filling in the same form over and over again, your hopes are crushed. Why? Because half of these make money online ideas don’t work. Well, it’s not that they don’t actually make money, it’s just that they suck.

Without further ado, here are the absolute worst ways to try and make money online in my opinion. Feel free to give them a try yourself but I’m just trying to save you some time here.

So, a content mill is basically a site that allows “writers” to sign up and claim the available jobs. Usually you have to take some kind of writing test first but I’m pretty sure anyone capable of reading this page would pass. Then after they carefully select you as a writer (eye roll) you have the pleasure of trying to select a decent writing job from the list. After you’ve spent an hour or more crafting a beautiful 500 word piece in hopes of getting a good review, you get paid! You get paid like a dollar. I’m so serious. It’s seriously a dollar. What a way to earn a living.

Since I kind of feel like you don’t believe me, here’s the proof.

Survey Sites

Oh. My. God. Do not even get me started on how much I loathe survey sites with the entirety of my being. My soul aches at the thought of signing up for one of these ridiculous programs. I have tried them all people. From Inbox Dollars to iSay, they are all the same. I might have enjoyed them if I had qualified for other surveys aside from the one asking for my personal information. But no. I never, ever qualify to take the actual surveys.

Am I the only one?

Why don’t they want my opinion?

I MATTER!

Okay, anyway. Even if I did qualify for their lousy surveys, I don’t think $0.25 for 5 minutes of my life is worth it. Do you know how much time I’d have to take every day and how many survey sites I would have to be on to make a decent side hustle? Many. Very, very many. It just isn’t worth it.

Rebates

Hold on Ibotta lovers, don’t run away yet. I actually don’t mind rebates but I don’t consider them to be a side hustle or a source of extra income.

So… why are you putting it on this list?

I have seen a ton of other bloggers put apps like Ibotta, MobiSave, and Ebates on their list of ways to earn money from home and it just doesn’t make sense to me. You shouldn’t go buy things to save money. Isn’t that a bit counterintuitive? I am ALL FOR these apps and rebates when you use them because you actually had to do holiday shopping or you did really need to buy groceries. That makes sense to me but the amount you get back is so small each month, I wouldn’t mark this as a way to make money.

Some of my favorite rebate type apps

Walmart Savings Catcher

Ibotta

MobiSave

Ebates

Receipt Hog (earn rewards for grocery receipts)

Shopkick (earn rewards for walking into a store)

Watching Videos + Listening to Music

Can we please just stop with the Swagbucks nonsense already? Please. It is such a waste of time and iPhone battery life and it won’t make you much money. Plus, who wants to make money with advertisements if you have to actually watch the ads yourself!?

Slice The Pie isn’t any better. If you haven’t heard of it it’s basically reviewing snippets of music no one has ever heard for money. And by money of course I mean pennies.

Transcription

I’m really not a fan of these transcription sites only because if you are skilled in transcribing, you should be charging way more for your services. Mostly because there are so many rules to follow and listening to the same sentence over and over again seriously sucks. But hey, if that’s what you’re into, go for it. I’m just saying don’t try to make a career out of sites like Transcribe Me.

All I’m asking is that you value your time and realize that you worth so much more than $1/hr. Go out there and hustle but do it in a way that is fulfilling and respects your talents. How do you make money online?